Zoom - How This New Divorce Mediation Trend Could Help You
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, mediation and court proceedings are being held mostly via Zoom. We have found that meeting with clients exclusively via Zoom has shortened the time it takes to mediate a divorce.
Also, attending the one court date you have via Zoom, presuming one successfully mediates their divorce, allows people the advantage of not having to take an entire day off work to drive to a courthouse for a five-minute court appearance.
In addition, when a divorce is successfully mediated, many Illinois counties are waving the clients’ presence in court altogether, so they never have to be part of the public court process. This by itself is a huge benefit for people who are nervous about standing in front of a judge, do not other people hearing the details of their divorce and who want the court side of the divorce mediation process to be over as quickly as possible.
Another advantage we have recognized from Zoom meetings is that our clients are more civil towards each other and are coming to good agreements for their family more efficiently. This is likely attributed to our clients not having to take time off work to drive to our office for meetings, not having to be in a vehicle with their soon to be ex-spouse, both to and from a meeting, and the ability for them to mediate from the comforts of their home.
However, the one negative we have found to Zoom meetings vs. in-person meetings is that we are not able see first-hand our clients’ body language and subtle nuances, which helps us to recognize more quickly if a particular issue is one that is heating up rather quickly. The, if things do get heated, it is easier to step in, resolve the issue and get the proceedings back on track.
That being said, people who mediate their divorces are historically more civil towards each other vs. those who litigate, so we do not see things getting so heated to the point where we have to stop a session.
Consequently, if you are at a place where you are ready to get divorced, now is an excellent time to get started. With Zoom, it is making the entire divorce process a smooth one, which is allowing clients to move onto the next phase of their lives faster than ever before.
We believe this trend will continue even after things “get back to normal,” so if you want to know more about the Zoom mediation process, give us a call today.
At C.E.L. & Associates, we are committed to doing everything in our power to make your case progress civilly and cost-effectively.
Over the past 12 months of meeting with clients exclusively via Zoom, we have found a cost-effective and civil approach that has proven to be more beneficial to our clients in terms of cost, time, civility, and an overall more positive divorce process. As always, like with the agreements our clients reach in mediation, the decision to use Zoom will be their choice. However, we have seen first-hand Zooms to enhances the divorce mediation process and the agreements our clients reach.
Our services include pre-decree divorce mediation, post-decree divorce mediation, marital family mediation, and co-mediation services. We also offer parenting coordinator services for our higher conflict clients, where reaching everyday agreements becomes a heart-wrenching task that never ends.
Prior to Zoom, our services were only available to those who live in Illinois or Wisconsin who could drive to one of our eight office locations. Now, we are able to offer our services to anyone going through a divorce in Illinois or Wisconsin.
If you have any questions about divorce mediation, please contact us by clicking here. To learn more about the other services we have to offer, please click here.